Thought I'd post this up in the hope anyone can add anything specific to the timeline prior to him being captured?
Annoyingly I can place nearly every Warrant Officer in the Regiment to a Squadron apart from him so I'm wondering if he was attached to another unit prior to capture. Also rather annoyingly he doesn't give a date or a specific place of capture which would have nailed it down some what if he did. Having briefly checked the war diary and history I reckon assuming he was with 1 ERY he was captured around Hazebrouck, Cassel or just north of there. I think the Belgium connection on his report is probably Watou. I know that B and C Squadrons were on the outskirts of the town and a lot of ERY PoWs were gathered in the main square there. I think I need to do some proper digging on this to find out more.
I'll have a look tomorrow if I get time, assuming I can find my copy. I skimmed through the war diary, the regiments history and the RAC's Missing Men file but no joy yet.
Drew well done,sorry just logged in today and spotted your post , you have the right man, I can only say he wears the royal tank corps uniform in photo when demobbed. Other photo's show him working on armored cars.
Pictures? Can you post them up It would be really good to confirm either way if he was attached to another unit. If we can ID that I reckon I could give you a good idea on what he was doing prior to capture. Cheers Andy
Great pictures - The service records may hold more clues but I think the picture with him wearing a crown and laurels on his sleeve would make him a Troop Sergeant Major rather than a Squadron Sergeant Major.
There was a WO III rank used for a short period of time at the start of the war. It was used to make up the short fall in junior officers to command Troops, Platoons etc. The badge was a crown with a laurel around it with Sergeant Majors being WO II's and wearing just the crown. The Crown and Laurel is still used today for WO II's who hold RQMS positions. I can't find the thread on here as the new search engine is returning 7 pages. Have a look on Wikipedia instead
(advanced search , click the cog icon. search for drew5233 as 'author' subject 'platoon sergeant major' less results, thread 9th on list. http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/17247-warrant-officer-class-iii-psm/ excellent photos Jaaa, cheers for posting.
Since I've been asked by someone to do a bit of vehicle ID-ing. (Happy to receive corrections, obviously.) Crossley Mk1 (turret from a light MkIII tank) : 1920 Pattern Rolls: (Cracking photos by the way, Jaaa - thanks for posting.)
Sorry to be a bit late on this but I believe you have the info about WOs badges of rank the wrong way round. WOIIs wore the crown within a wreath and WOIIIs wore the plain crown. Once the WOIII rank was abolished an order was issued (I'll try to find a reference) that CSMs and SSMs should wear the plain crown whils SQMSs and CQMSs were to wear the crown within a wreath. Lots of Sergeant Majors, possibly most of them, considered they were being ordered to wear the badge of a lower rank and refused to do so, continuing to wear the crown within a wreath until the end of the war. The authorities only got a grip on this situation after the war had finished and the Army got back to 'real soldering'.
Blanket Stacker I think you've got it partly wrong too. While I agree that WO2s now (and probably since the demise of the WO3) wear a plain crown, CQMSs and SQMSs are staff sergeants (colour sergeants to me as an infanteer) and wear a crown above their stripes. It is RQMSs (who are also WO2s) who wear the laurel round their crown. Chris
Reference my last, ACI 398 dated 17/9/38 dealt with the introduction of the WOIII rank and authorised the large crown, previously worn by CSMs and SSMs, as the rank badge. From this date all WOIIs were all to wear the crown in wreath. ACI 804 of 1940 announced that no further promotions to WOIII would be made but that holders would keep their rank until promotion, reduction or retirement. The regulations as to who wore what badge were not changed until ACI 991 of 1947 which restored the former situation i.e. Sergeant Majors wearing the large crown. The story about CSMs being orderd to wear the large crown and not liking the idea was something I read a long time ago, more than twenty years, and I cannot remember the source so this will have to go unverified. Bear in mind that the majority of these men, even the WOs, were not professional soldiers and knew nothing of how the Army had done things before they joined.
Just thought I had better update you guys how my search is progressing. At the moment I have not applied for Harry's service record because in the past few weeks I have successfully found records of his missing son and family living in the Nottinghamshire area , so I am not able to apply as next of kin . I have not tried searching them out yet but it would be great to meet and give them his medals etc. (That's another search in how to) Do we have anyone one the forum searching WW1 records? I have a Kings Royal Rifle Corps member of my late family who signed up in 1902. I have his Sheffield enlistment form only. Regards to all.
